I ended up having a very expensive party one year because we got shut out of the county options and decided to do it at one of the kid's theaters. (we have a small house with really outdated, bad bathrooms and I didn't want to have it at home.) Then nobody from my daughter's school RSVP'd so i invited some family friends... and then a bunch RSVP'd after the date, so I ended up with more guests than intended! (and you have to buy tickets for each kid and each adult.) Even with a Safeway cake, minimal decorations and cheap party favors, that was probably a $500 party. Eek!

It was an awesome party, though.

we went cheaper this year - got our county option, ordered pizzas, I made cupcakes and it didn't cost more than $250.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are a multitude of reasons why we pay $500+ for birthday parties for the kids.

- Parks are unpredictable, they can be crowded, the grounds can be muddy, there is a lot of setup and take down. Wind, sun, sweat, bugs, dogs, dirty bathrooms, etc. No.

- At home is great except for the liability. We have a pool and a huge yard, we can certainly rent some yard game activity equipment. But I will not want any kids to get hurt on my property. I will gladly pay for the insurance of renting someone else's facilities. Our kids are well behaved in our home, but I do not want to risk breaking valuables due to a ton of kids running around. And again, the setup, take down, clean up, trash, pee on the powder room floor. No.

- I want to expose my kids to the feeling of a big party/celebration. When they were young, we had small intimate family-only birthday parties. We still celebrate each of their birthdays separately in private like that, but it's important for them to not miss out on the feeling and atmosphere of large parties. After they've gone to a couple of large parties of their friends, they want to experience the same thing on their own birthdays.

You sound like a barrel of laughs.

Why did you have kids?

I have to agree. I cannot imagine living my life like this, scared of wind, sun and sweat...

And lawsuits.

So I guess PP never has anyone at her house other than immediate family?

Friends, family, business partners, co-workers, kids we are familiar with, parents of kids we are familiar with, neighbors, etc. My kids have some friends at school that they are close with and invite to birthday parties. We are not familiar with them, not familiar with their parents. I am not comfortable that the first time they come to our home is during a chaotic birthday party.

Chaos is a choice.

We limit the number of guests to the age the birthday child is turning - so a turning-6yo invites six guests. No chaos. Just a nice time.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are a multitude of reasons why we pay $500+ for birthday parties for the kids.

- Parks are unpredictable, they can be crowded, the grounds can be muddy, there is a lot of setup and take down. Wind, sun, sweat, bugs, dogs, dirty bathrooms, etc. No.

- At home is great except for the liability. We have a pool and a huge yard, we can certainly rent some yard game activity equipment. But I will not want any kids to get hurt on my property. I will gladly pay for the insurance of renting someone else's facilities. Our kids are well behaved in our home, but I do not want to risk breaking valuables due to a ton of kids running around. And again, the setup, take down, clean up, trash, pee on the powder room floor. No.

- I want to expose my kids to the feeling of a big party/celebration. When they were young, we had small intimate family-only birthday parties. We still celebrate each of their birthdays separately in private like that, but it's important for them to not miss out on the feeling and atmosphere of large parties. After they've gone to a couple of large parties of their friends, they want to experience the same thing on their own birthdays.

You sound like a barrel of laughs.

Why did you have kids?

I have to agree. I cannot imagine living my life like this, scared of wind, sun and sweat...

And lawsuits.

So I guess PP never has anyone at her house other than immediate family?

Friends, family, business partners, co-workers, kids we are familiar with, parents of kids we are familiar with, neighbors, etc. My kids have some friends at school that they are close with and invite to birthday parties. We are not familiar with them, not familiar with their parents. I am not comfortable that the first time they come to our home is during a chaotic birthday party.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are a multitude of reasons why we pay $500+ for birthday parties for the kids.

- Parks are unpredictable, they can be crowded, the grounds can be muddy, there is a lot of setup and take down. Wind, sun, sweat, bugs, dogs, dirty bathrooms, etc. No.

- At home is great except for the liability. We have a pool and a huge yard, we can certainly rent some yard game activity equipment. But I will not want any kids to get hurt on my property. I will gladly pay for the insurance of renting someone else's facilities. Our kids are well behaved in our home, but I do not want to risk breaking valuables due to a ton of kids running around. And again, the setup, take down, clean up, trash, pee on the powder room floor. No.

- I want to expose my kids to the feeling of a big party/celebration. When they were young, we had small intimate family-only birthday parties. We still celebrate each of their birthdays separately in private like that, but it's important for them to not miss out on the feeling and atmosphere of large parties. After they've gone to a couple of large parties of their friends, they want to experience the same thing on their own birthdays.

You sound like a barrel of laughs.

Why did you have kids?

I have to agree. I cannot imagine living my life like this, scared of wind, sun and sweat...

And lawsuits.

So I guess PP never has anyone at her house other than immediate family?

House party doesn't have to be expensive...heres my breakdown of ours last month. I kept exact figures as we are trying a new 2015 budget software and I am trying to make the most of it...

1.) two sheet pizzas, veggies and hummus, bowl of chips, case of juice boxes, case of water, one batch of homemade cupcakes = 76.50
2.) Frozen craft supplies (pinterest hacked) for 6 girls = 34.78 (crafts are good bc they serve as an activity and the take home result can be their party favor)
3.) 2 ballons for our mailbox to make our house more noticeable= 3.50
4.) piñata (non frozen themed/just a generic one to save some money)= 15.00


So well under 150.00 and a great party. We didn't decorate beyond the pinata, we used our own plates and silverware, we invited parents to stay but non did since they are 5-6 year olds, we had free play at the end and it was perfect. My house was trashed but story of my life as I have three kids. We also had way way way too much pizza.

It is the same world as when we were kids. what has changed is the degree of paranoia.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are a multitude of reasons why we pay $500+ for birthday parties for the kids.

- Parks are unpredictable, they can be crowded, the grounds can be muddy, there is a lot of setup and take down. Wind, sun, sweat, bugs, dogs, dirty bathrooms, etc. No.

- At home is great except for the liability. We have a pool and a huge yard, we can certainly rent some yard game activity equipment. But I will not want any kids to get hurt on my property. I will gladly pay for the insurance of renting someone else's facilities. Our kids are well behaved in our home, but I do not want to risk breaking valuables due to a ton of kids running around. And again, the setup, take down, clean up, trash, pee on the powder room floor. No.

- I want to expose my kids to the feeling of a big party/celebration. When they were young, we had small intimate family-only birthday parties. We still celebrate each of their birthdays separately in private like that, but it's important for them to not miss out on the feeling and atmosphere of large parties. After they've gone to a couple of large parties of their friends, they want to experience the same thing on their own birthdays.

You sound like a barrel of laughs.

Why did you have kids?

I have to agree. I cannot imagine living my life like this, scared of wind, sun and sweat...

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are a multitude of reasons why we pay $500+ for birthday parties for the kids.

- Parks are unpredictable, they can be crowded, the grounds can be muddy, there is a lot of setup and take down. Wind, sun, sweat, bugs, dogs, dirty bathrooms, etc. No.

- At home is great except for the liability. We have a pool and a huge yard, we can certainly rent some yard game activity equipment. But I will not want any kids to get hurt on my property. I will gladly pay for the insurance of renting someone else's facilities. Our kids are well behaved in our home, but I do not want to risk breaking valuables due to a ton of kids running around. And again, the setup, take down, clean up, trash, pee on the powder room floor. No.

- I want to expose my kids to the feeling of a big party/celebration. When they were young, we had small intimate family-only birthday parties. We still celebrate each of their birthdays separately in private like that, but it's important for them to not miss out on the feeling and atmosphere of large parties. After they've gone to a couple of large parties of their friends, they want to experience the same thing on their own birthdays.

You sound like a barrel of laughs.

Why did you have kids?

I just don't want to be stressed out with having to do all the prep and deal with the uncertainty of having a park birthday okay? We have family cookouts and picnics so we are no strangers to doing that. But I refuse to deal with it within the context of 15-20 screaming children.

The liability issue is serious. People are sue happy these days. You just never know. I am not going to take a chance on getting myself involved in a lawsuit because I want to save a few hundred dollars. It's a different world than when we were kids.

Anonymous wrote:There are a multitude of reasons why we pay $500+ for birthday parties for the kids.

- Parks are unpredictable, they can be crowded, the grounds can be muddy, there is a lot of setup and take down. Wind, sun, sweat, bugs, dogs, dirty bathrooms, etc. No.

- At home is great except for the liability. We have a pool and a huge yard, we can certainly rent some yard game activity equipment. But I will not want any kids to get hurt on my property. I will gladly pay for the insurance of renting someone else's facilities. Our kids are well behaved in our home, but I do not want to risk breaking valuables due to a ton of kids running around. And again, the setup, take down, clean up, trash, pee on the powder room floor. No.

- I want to expose my kids to the feeling of a big party/celebration. When they were young, we had small intimate family-only birthday parties. We still celebrate each of their birthdays separately in private like that, but it's important for them to not miss out on the feeling and atmosphere of large parties. After they've gone to a couple of large parties of their friends, they want to experience the same thing on their own birthdays.

You sound like a barrel of laughs.

Why did you have kids?

Home birthday parties are not cheap if you don't want to so something generic.

I spend $150 on food and home-made cake, another $150 on home-made decor and little party games and little gifts.
That's about $300 without professional entertainment.

Then I've done professional entertainment like video game trucks, bouncy castles, etc that come to your house, and those prices are through the roof. Let's not even talk about venues...

So yes, life goes on, prices go up, your income doesn't necessarily follow

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are a multitude of reasons why we pay $500+ for birthday parties for the kids.

- Parks are unpredictable, they can be crowded, the grounds can be muddy, there is a lot of setup and take down. Wind, sun, sweat, bugs, dogs, dirty bathrooms, etc. No.

- At home is great except for the liability. We have a pool and a huge yard, we can certainly rent some yard game activity equipment. But I will not want any kids to get hurt on my property. I will gladly pay for the insurance of renting someone else's facilities. Our kids are well behaved in our home, but I do not want to risk breaking valuables due to a ton of kids running around. And again, the setup, take down, clean up, trash, pee on the powder room floor. No.

- I want to expose my kids to the feeling of a big party/celebration. When they were young, we had small intimate family-only birthday parties. We still celebrate each of their birthdays separately in private like that, but it's important for them to not miss out on the feeling and atmosphere of large parties. After they've gone to a couple of large parties of their friends, they want to experience the same thing on their own birthdays.

You forgot to add:

- I am desperately concerned that others not look at me as a less-than-perfect mother.

- I am desperately concerned that I am a less-than-perfect mother.

And
How will people know how much money I have?

I am the PP you guys are poking fun at. Ironically, people would learn far more about our finances by coming to our house, than a $500 birthday party hosted elsewhere.

Here's another knock on the "have a birthday at a park" thing. Other kids from the neighborhood may be at the park, and realize they weren't invited. Super awkward. We've had that happen, where my kid was like "Why are all those kids over there having cake without me?" and you're trying to get your kid from joining in and just taking cake.
I've been to parties at the park that are really fun, but I've never been willing to have one -- due in part to my paranoia that the weather will be bad, and in part due to my concerns about hurting other kids' feelings.

I usually do at-home parties, but I agree that the costs add up, and there's a lot of stress involved (I don't actually clean in advance, but I do need to put all the crap into a different room, etc...and then must do at least some clean-up afterwards). I learned the hard way that they really get you on the merchandised party crap. I remember buying Little Mermaid cake plates and then realizing they were like a dollar a plate or something ridiculous. Buy one or two things that are merchandised if the child wants a theme, and then fill out everything else at the dollar store. You can go a long way with using a color as part of your "theme" (light blue streamers + silver plates = very frozen). I'm also a big fan of the re-usable decorations from Target.

And, on the great butter debate -- I am always shocked and appalled at how much butter must be used to make buttercream. I personally hate buttercream, and only make it for children's birthday parties. The person that said a stick of butter obviously never made home made butter cream -- that makes like one slice's worth of buttercream. Costco has super cheap cakes, and the kids really like them. I am an amateur baker, who loves to bake and usually makes cakes from scratch, but honestly, for little kids, the Costco cake is both cheaper and probably preferred. You can buy a frozen decoration online and stick it on top --- ooh, some rock candy around an Elsa with blue colored sugar sprinkled in a swirl across the cake would look super cool.

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I'm not a baker, but to order a cake at a grocery store is not super expensive.

I feel like I'm wasting the most money on decorations.

Craigslist/ listservs
http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/search/sss?query=frozen%20birthday&sort=rel

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are a multitude of reasons why we pay $500+ for birthday parties for the kids.

- Parks are unpredictable, they can be crowded, the grounds can be muddy, there is a lot of setup and take down. Wind, sun, sweat, bugs, dogs, dirty bathrooms, etc. No.

- At home is great except for the liability. We have a pool and a huge yard, we can certainly rent some yard game activity equipment. But I will not want any kids to get hurt on my property. I will gladly pay for the insurance of renting someone else's facilities. Our kids are well behaved in our home, but I do not want to risk breaking valuables due to a ton of kids running around. And again, the setup, take down, clean up, trash, pee on the powder room floor. No.

- I want to expose my kids to the feeling of a big party/celebration. When they were young, we had small intimate family-only birthday parties. We still celebrate each of their birthdays separately in private like that, but it's important for them to not miss out on the feeling and atmosphere of large parties. After they've gone to a couple of large parties of their friends, they want to experience the same thing on their own birthdays.

You forgot to add:

- I am desperately concerned that others not look at me as a less-than-perfect mother.

- I am desperately concerned that I am a less-than-perfect mother.

And
How will people know how much money I have?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are a multitude of reasons why we pay $500+ for birthday parties for the kids.

- Parks are unpredictable, they can be crowded, the grounds can be muddy, there is a lot of setup and take down. Wind, sun, sweat, bugs, dogs, dirty bathrooms, etc. No.

- At home is great except for the liability. We have a pool and a huge yard, we can certainly rent some yard game activity equipment. But I will not want any kids to get hurt on my property. I will gladly pay for the insurance of renting someone else's facilities. Our kids are well behaved in our home, but I do not want to risk breaking valuables due to a ton of kids running around. And again, the setup, take down, clean up, trash, pee on the powder room floor. No.

- I want to expose my kids to the feeling of a big party/celebration. When they were young, we had small intimate family-only birthday parties. We still celebrate each of their birthdays separately in private like that, but it's important for them to not miss out on the feeling and atmosphere of large parties. After they've gone to a couple of large parties of their friends, they want to experience the same thing on their own birthdays.

You forgot to add:

- I am desperately concerned that others not look at me as a less-than-perfect mother.

- I am desperately concerned that I am a less-than-perfect mother.

You can think like that about me if you want, if it helps you cope with your own sense of inadequacy. To the parents who can afford a $500 birthday party, if you think it's worth it go for it. Everyone's finances are different. $500 is not a big deal to us and it's a good opportunity for the kids to have some good fun.